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Leah Forner is looking forward to more than repeating the words "I do" to her husband Mike.

Besides wearing a white dress, being surrounded by a special group of wedding attendants and exchanging self-composed vows with her spouse, Forner is fulfilling a promise she thought she had broken earlier this year.

"I had asked my son Payton to walk me down the aisle years ago, whenever that were to happen, and he didn't get to do that," said Forner, explaining how she married Mike in a courthouse ceremony in Florida far away from their children in February. "So, that kind of broke my heart."

On Friday, when the newlyweds renew their wedding vows as part of a unique and busy "Marry Me Weekend" at Life Church in the town of Lawrence, 13-year-old Payton will be walking his mother down the aisle.

"It's going to be hard not to cry," said Leah, who lives in Coleman with Mike and their blended family of six kids, all of whom will be standing up in the service.

She won't be alone shedding tears in an elaborate setting in a big white tent outside Life Church, whose leaders are giving nine couples from their large congregation a free marriage ceremony.

Leah and Mike Forner, who will renew their wedding vows during the free “Marry Me Weekend” at Life Church in the Town of Lawrence.(Photo: Submitted)

"We were hearing that a lot of couples who had been dating a long time or living together a long time just said, 'We're just waiting till we can have a beautiful wedding. We're waiting for the money'" to afford it, said Sonny Hennessy, executive pastor and marketing director at Life Church. "And, we thought living together isn't ideal — in the Bible, you are to be married first. So, we thought, well, how do we fix it and let's help them."

The church usage fee for a wedding, which runs about $500, has been waived. The church also arranged through the generosity of some of its parishioners and local businesses to provide professional photographers and videographers, music, flowers, a cake and other amenities without cost.

Factor in other in-kind discounts made available by area retailers, including on rings purchased by a few couples, Hennessy said the all-inclusive wedding package is valued at more than $2,600.

For bride-to-be Bethany De Grand, her longtime dream is coming true after she feared it wouldn't for a while.

"We would never be able to afford this type of wedding," said De Grand, a Green Bay resident who will marry longtime boyfriend Tony Higgins on Saturday. "We would eventually get married, but it would have been in the courthouse — keep it simple."

Shawn Hennessy, Sonny's husband and the lead pastor at the church, is officiating all nine ceremonies Friday and Saturday.

Five couples will be wed. The other four couples are married but wanted to make their covenant complete by doing so in the presence of God.

Tony Higgins and Bethany De Grand, who will wed during the free “Marry Me Weekend” at Life Church.(Photo: Submitted)

Each couple was assigned a 90-minute time block.

That gives the bride and groom time to get ready inside the church. In turn, they will head out to the tent, which will have seating to accommodate 150 guests. The couple will join Shawn Hennessy just outside the tent under the arch of a gazebo for the ceremony of about 20-30 minutes. The traditional cake cutting as well as photo opportunities will follow.

"It's amazing that this church is doing this," De Grand said.

This will be her second marriage, but it's her first wedding in a church setting.

So, while Life Church is sparing De Grand and Higgins many of the expenses, the couple is planning to make it a memorable occasion. De Grand will be in a white dress and walk the aisle with her young son. Three other kids in the expanded family are serving as flower girls.

De Grand and Higgins jumped at the opportunity to have the free ceremony after attending the "Better Together" relationship seminar at Life Church in February. Shawn and Sonny Hennessy, who have been married nearly 20 years and hosted the seminar, made the announcement there about the inaugural "Marry Me Weekend."

"Our goal is to provide a first-class outdoor wedding for men and women whose only roadblock to marriage is having enough money saved," Sonny Hennessy said. "We are working with each couple, helping them focus on a Jesus-centered marriage to become the best husband and wife possible."

Mark Adams and Brenda Edge, who will wed during the free “Marry Me Weekend” at Life Church.(Photo: Submitted)

The nine couples spent the last few months going through a marriage-preparation program at Life Church, led by Shawn Hennessy and other church officials.

"Lots of steps in counseling and coaching so that they're headed into the marriage with God at the center," Sonny said.

The pastors would like to turn "Marry Me Weekend" into an annual tradition at Life Church, which has more than 1,500 attendees.

Brenda Edge and her future husband, Mark Adams, are grateful for what she calls "a very warm church." Their plan to get married sometime this year was pushed up to Friday.

"We were going to keep it real simple, just maybe get married in the park and have a picnic," said Edge, a Green Bay resident. "Then, we heard about this (free ceremony), and we decided to go with that. But, we're still going to have the picnic later on."